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The pumpkin is carved.

Spooky music is cued up.

"Dawn of the Dead" and "The Shining" are in rotation on the DVD player.

Now, all you have to do is pick up candy for the pint-size Hannah Montanas and Captain Jack Sparrows who will soon come knocking.

It's easy enough to grab a Harris Teeter variety pack, but if you're competing for Best Treats status, an extra effort wouldn't hurt.

For those Halloween over-achievers, we asked candy-loving kids and adults for a little insight into the minds (and mouths) of pillow-toting munchie monsters.

The overwhelming vote -- surprise, surprise -- was for chocolate. It really doesn't matter if it's chocolate bars or chocolate nuggets as long as cocoa tops the ingredient list.

Five-year-old Anjonee Hoyes was in Party City last week looking for the perfect pixie costume. Chocolate is the way to go, she says, but she likes everything and isn't one for trading her treats.

Mendenhall Middle School students agreed and sent in a packet of letters extolling the virtues of Snickers, Butterfingers and Starbursts.

"Halloween is so much fun because you get to eat so much candy that would last you for a whole year or until you fall to the floor crying because your belly hurts," 13-year-old Ashleigh Beasley wrote.

Most students warned against licorice, coconut and "old people candy." Giving out pretzels, granola bars or coupons is a particularly egregious sin.

"Last year a man gave away toothbrushes and apples," Natalie Greene, 12, wrote. "Come on, you can do better."

Teddy Sparks hasn't been trick-or-treating in quite some time, but the 50-year-old McLeansville resident has firm opinions on sugary loot.

Snickers and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are in; hard candies such as SweeTarts, lollipops and peppermints are not. In the past few years, he has gravitated toward gooey combos of marshmallow, chocolate and peanuts.

"Peppermints aren't a treat at all," he says. "Everyone has those around the house. It's like people forgot to buy candy."

The candy corn vote was split: People either love it or hate it. There's not much middle ground.

Eric Frazier, 12, is a fan of the seasonal candy, especially, he says, because it's a type of corn.

"What else could so festively represent Halloween and the autumn season than those delicious triangular white and orange pieces?" writes Tom Heldreth, a 49-year-old Greensboro resident, in an e-mail.

Even better are households that wrap homemade cookies or store-bought candies in little bags tied with ribbon.

"That simple gesture meant something special to me," he says. "And I think back on it even to this day."

Contact Katie Reetz at 691-5091 or kreetz@news-record.com